Jansen Newsletter Available Online
You can now read the June 2009, May 2009, April 2009, March 2009, February 2009, January 2009, December 2008, November 2008, October 2008 and September 2008 editions of our Jansen Avenue Newsletter here.

Physical Education Student Leader Awards
In a ceremony at Hudson Valley Community College on May 4, 24 Greater Johnstown School District students were recognized by the Capital Zone of the New York State Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance with the Sandy Morley Physical Education Leadership Award. Click here to read more.
 

PTA Carnival Brings Big Smiles
The Jansen Avenue PTA graciously hosted our annual school carnival on March 6. It was a fun-filled night of play, face painting, friendship and treats! Many families came out to try their hand at a variety of games of skill and chance. Boys and girls went home with great prizes and big smiles on their faces. A great time was had by all! Click here to enjoy carnival photos.


Visitors Travel the Globe during Art Show & Basket Auction
Happy families strolled through world themed exhibits to admire student art work at the Jansen Avenue Art Show & Basket Auction on March 25. Upon arrival at each continent, visitors were greeted by a customs official who stamped their passports. Guests were also treated to trays of hors d'oeuvres served by student ambassadors.

As part of the event, boys and girls were also able to create delicious and edible artwork using frosting and various delectable candies at a decorate your own cookie station.

In preparation for the Basket Auction portion of the evening, each class voted on and created a basket for the auction. The clever and eye-catching themes included coffee, Italian food specialties and camping, just to name a few. One lucky winner even took home a basket containing a money tree! Without a doubt, the baskets were all big hits and a great time was had by all! Click here to see art show photos.

Sixth Graders Make "Paws-itive" Impact
The sixth graders at Jansen Avenue recently collected money, dog food, cat food, toys and cleaning supplies for the James A. Brennan Humane Society. Exercising values from the Six Pillars of Character, the students demonstrated caring and citizenship by taking the time to get involved and showing compassion for furry friends in need!

Kindergarteners Construct New Housing for Holidays
As part of their holiday festivities, Mrs. Miller's kindergarten students recently enjoyed building a gingerbread house. Click here to see photos of the smiling students next to the finished and frosted candy-covered abode, which can comfortably accommodate several gingerbread family members!
 

Jansen Avenue Elementary School Selected to Receive National Honor
U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced on September 9 that the Greater Johnstown School District’s Jansen Avenue Elementary School has been named a 2008 No child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon School. Only 320 schools from 45 states are receiving the honor, which recognizes public and private K-12 schools that either score in the top 10 percent on state assessments, or make dramatic gains in student performance on state assessments when at least 40 percent of the students are from disadvantaged backgrounds. Jansen Avenue has been selected as a school in the top 10 percent of New York State with at least 40 percent of its students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Read More

Introducing Jansen Avenue's New Principal - Ms. Colleen Lester
As the new principal at Jansen Avenue, I’d like to share a little about myself. I am from the Buffalo area, where I was a teacher in the Clarence School District for fifteen years. My undergraduate work was completed at Saint Bonaventure University. I have a Master’s degree in Social Studies Education and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership from Buffalo State College.

I am very proud and excited to be a new member of the Jansen Avenue family and the Johnstown community. Everyone that I’ve met or spoken with has been extremely welcoming and friendly. As the summer moves on, I hope to meet more families and community members. Read more
 

Jansen Selected as One of the Top 19 Schools in New York State to Make Significant Academic Progress
What does this mean? The U.S. Department of Education has established the “No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools Program” to honor schools that are academically superior or make dramatic gains in student achievement. “Dramatically improving schools improved the performance of all students to high levels in reading (language arts or English) and mathematics on state assessments.” The Department of Education decides how many schools each state may nominate. For 2008, only 19 New York State schools have been selected to apply for this honor – and the Greater Johnstown School District’s Jansen Avenue Elementary is one of them! Read More

Price Chopper Tools for Schools
Do you participate in the Price Chopper Tools for Schools Program?  Your support can help us earn cool tools for our school!

General Mills Box Tops for Education
Our collection of General Mills Box Tops for Education (found on most  General Mills cereals and other products) continues. Support of boxtops4education.com is most appreciated, as it enables us to purchase new equipment for our school.

Visit District Homepage For District-Wide News
Information of importance to all schools in the district (i.e., stranger-danger tips, NYS Test Sampler links, etc.) is posted to the district homepage of the GJSD Web site. When checking your individual school’s page, please remember to check the district homepage, as well.

Wondering what news you may have missed? Many web articles previously posted on our site can be accessed in our Archives.

NOTE: REFRESH YOUR SCREEN BY HITTING SHIFT+ REFRESH to make sure your computer is displaying the LATEST news on this page! Some computers cache the page in memory; hitting the shift key while refreshing the page in your browser will help the most current information to load. Another strategy is to hit the F5 key on your keyboard to refresh the page.

(top of page)

Universal Pre-K Program
Central Council PTA
21st Century CLC After-School Program

Other Helpful Links:
;World Book
;F-M Photo Archives